Making Musical Terms Fun!

My kids love to associate pizz with pizza! And dolce with their favourite candies! However, I've found so many students have no clue what Italian terms on their music means, and sometimes I really don’t blame them, they are already busy enough looking at the notes, bowings, and overwhelmed by everything else that's on the page! But at the same time, it’s necessary for them to know! It’s like doing math and having no clue what a division sign means?

Over the years of teaching I realised how much the kids love drawing and doodling! I’m constantly entertained by doodles on their homework, practice journals, and hand drawn cards! Often at the end of camp when we ask kids what they enjoyed the most about camp, it’s FOOD first then arts and craft next…. (not sure where the music part went hopefully they enjoyed that too? 😂) I'm not great at art, can't even manage a stickman, but I enjoy my student's creativity! To be honest, I'm always envious of how well they can draw and I love seeing how they enjoy their art and are always game to share!

This past year, I've been getting my students to draw their interpretation of musical/Italian terms and it's been a fun journey both seeing what they come up with, and how they have these terms etched in their memories after that!

Memorising Italian terms is never fun, but it's crucial for students to understand these terms and express them in their music! As a student, musical terms were never engrained in me. I memorised them for exams and these foreign terms promptly left my memory once I step out of the exam room. Only in my music college days (*gasps*) did I realise how essential knowledge of these terms were, and of course I turned to Google! I've seen that in many of my students as well, which gave me the resolve to start introducing these terms early in my student's musical journey as well as making it relatable!

Enjoy some of their drawings and doodling! =)